The present invention relates to a system for repositioning a bedfast patient, and more particularly to a portable system for rotating a bedfast patient to either side from his back (ninety degrees), or from one side to his back (ninety degrees), or from one side to another side (one hundred eighty degrees) by a single attendant.
It is well known in the health care field that there are common and recurring problems associated with the care of bedfast patients. Generally, most such problems are due to the patient""s reduced body strength and limited mobility of their upper and lower extremities. One such problem stems from the requirement that bedridden patients must be rotated to either side from his back, or from one side to his back, every two hours in order to prevent the formation of bed sores. Due to the awkward weight of a bedridden patient coupled with the patient""s inability to offer assistance, these repositioning tasks amount to strenuous lifting and sliding exercises and are quite difficult to perform. In fact, attendants frequently incur back injuries when attempting to reposition a bedfast patient. For fear of these injuries, attendants will occasionally neglect their repositioning duties or perform them on an irregular basis thereby subjecting the patient to undue comfort, and in so doing, possibly even enhance the formation of bed sores.
Bedsores and poor blood circulation are common ailments of invalid patients. For this reason, good medical practice requires that a patient be rotated or turned periodically to relieve pressure on particular joints and muscles, and to vary the circulation pattern and permit free circulation to all parts of the body. Since invalid patients can suffocate if rolled over onto their stomach for any period of time, the patient is merely rotated or turned partially so that the patient lies flat on his back, then on one side, then the other side in alternating sequence. The patient may be supported by a pillow against the side and under the back. This requires repeated physical labor by the persons caring for the patient. Because of the difficulty of doing this, and staff shortages, patients, many times, are not turned as often as good medical practice requires.
A procedure often used in hospital and nursing homes for the periodic rotation of patients is to place a folded sheet under the midsection of a patient and having two attendants or nursing aides, working together, to rotate the patient by pulling on one end of the folded sheet to thus turn the patient to either side from his back, or from one side to his back.
This procedure is time-consuming and requires substantial physical labor. The amount of labor generally requires that two or more persons carry out the steps described above. This often makes it impossible for a patient to be cared for at home even though the condition of the patient is otherwise acceptable for home care. This causes substantial additional health care costs, overcrowding and staff shortages.
It is also documented that one of the significant causes of workers compensation claims and on-the-job injuries in hospitals and nursing homes are strains, muscle pulls and the like resulting from the continuous practice of the procedures described above even with two attendants.
Devices which facilitate the repositioning or rotation of bedfast patients are disclosed in the following United States patents, namely: U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,170 to Knouse; U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,874 to Kershaw; U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,267 to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,587 to Shutes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,862 to Palmer, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,739 to Rains et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,304 to Shutes; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,974 to Rains et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,170 to Knouse discloses an electrically driven device which can be positioned on either side of a bed for grasping one edge of a sheet to move a patient from the bed to a gurney positioned on the side of the bed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,874 to Kershaw discloses a turn sheet for turning a bedfast patient positioned on a bed between back and side positions and a mechanical lifting device for engaging a selected edge of the turn sheet for turning the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,267 to Smith discloses an apparatus for lifting and turning a bedfast patient within a bed which includes an open framework positioned above the bed, a plurality of straps, and an electrical motor for pulling on the straps to lift and turn the bedfast patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,587 to Shutes discloses a patient positioning device including a corset adapted to be positioned around the torso of a patient, flexible straps coupled at one of their ends to the corset, and an electrical drive assembly located beneath the bed and connected to the other ends of the flexible straps for pulling on the straps to turn or reposition the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,862 to Palmer Jr. et al. discloses a device for turning or rotating a patient while lying on a bed and for moving the patient to a selected location on the bed. Each of U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,739 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,974 to Rains et al. discloses a fabric device for repositioning a patient in a bed, either by sliding the patient along the bed longitudinally or by rolling the patient, which device include a pair of cushioned cylinders for maintaining the patient in a stable position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,304 to Shutes discloses a patient positioning device including a corset adapted to be positioned around the torso of a patient lying in a bed, flexible straps coupled at one of their ends to the corset, and electrical drive means secured to bed rails on each side of the bed connected to the other ends of the straps for pulling on the straps to turn or reposition the patient.
These patents as well as others are generally relatively complex and possess numerous disadvantages and deficiencies which are overcome by the present invention. Many are expensive and space consuming and require substantial time of caregivers for setting up, therefore they are not practical. Some lift the patient which might cause injury to the patient. Thus, the age old tradition of rotating a bedfast patient every two hours by hand and usually by two attendants remains a serious problem.
A safe, efficient, labor and time saving system is provided by the present invention to rotate bedfast patients on a periodic basis from his back to either side (a ninety degree rotation), or from either side to his back (a ninety degree rotation), or from one side to the other side (a full one hundred eighty degree rotation). The system includes, in combination, two major elements, a patient rotation device and a rotation sheet which permits a smooth, continual and rapid rotation of the bedfast patient. There is little, if any, jerking, tugging, twisting, or lifting of the bedfast patient, thus providing the maximum amount of comfort possible.
The patient rotation device is a compact, light weight, unit that is readily movable by one person, and can be quickly and efficiently operated by one person when engaged with the rotation sheet to rotate a bedfast patient to and from one of three positions. After a bedfast patient is rotated, patient rotation device can be disconnected from the rotation sheet and repeatedly moved to other beds by a single person to rotate other persons. The rotation sheet always remains on the mattress under the patient. However, for comfort purposes, a folded sheet and/or a linen saver may be placed between the upper surface of the rotation sheet and the bedfast patient.
The patient rotation device comprises a frame, a roller rotatably journalled in the frame, means for securing a rotating sheet to the roller, means for driving or rotating the roller, and means for carrying the patient rotation device between patients. The rotation sheet is a piece of cloth material whose opposed edges extend over the side edges of the bed and incorporate means within the opposed edges for attachment to the roller of the patient rotation device. The rotation sheet has a slick lower side or surface and a coarse or rough upper side or surface.
It is an object of the present invention to facilitate the rotation of a bedfast patient to either side from his back, or from one side to his back, or from one side to the other side.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system which allows a single attendant to easily rotate a bedfast patient from one side to his back, or to either side from his back, or from one side to the other side.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for rotating a bedfast patient to either side from his back, or from one side to his back, or from one side to the other side by a single attendant to minimize the potential of injury to either the bedfast patient or the attendant.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for rotating a bedfast patient to positions wherein the patient is rotated to lie on one of his sides or his back by a single attendant to minimize the potential of injury to the attendant or the patient.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a system which permits a smooth, continual and rapid rotation of a bedfast patient from and to several positions with little, if any, jerking, tugging, twisting, or lifting of the bedfast patient.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a portable apparatus and rotation sheet for rotating a bedfast patient from his back to either of his sides, or from either side to his back, or from either side to the other side by a single attendant and which does not rely upon the strength or size of the single attendant.
The foregoing objects are met by the present invention and will become more apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.